A Student From Foreign Shores
One editor's tale of studying magic in a far off land
By Florence Thompson
For the past 50 years, The Daily Profit has not employed anyone who did not go to Hogwarts. This was not due to any sort of conscious bias, but rather one simple fact. The Daily Profit is a British newspaper, and Hogwarts is the only magic school in England. It is not, however, the only magical school in the world. Most of us, myself included, haven't given much thought to magical schools in other countries, other than a passing notice of Beauxbatton or Durmstrong during the revived tri-wizard tournament. In fact the only reason I was broken from this rut of not thinking about foreign wizarding schools is because, for the first time in 50 years, The Daily Profit has a staff member who did not go to Hogwarts. Ethan Jones-who had a mother born in England but was himself raised in the United States of America and studied magic there-has recently joined the team as an editor.
For those of you who don't know, The United States of America is a large county located to the east of Britain, across the Atlantic Ocean. It is a large land, encompassing many diverse groups of people, which is divided into 50 regions, called states, and English is the primary language throughout; although, listening to Mr. Jones' accent, one begins to doubt the validity of that statement. In any event, there are over 100 wizarding schools in the United States of America, spread throughout the country. Besides the most well know, which is Salem Academy, located in the western part of the state of Massachusetts, there are Longmeadow Academy in a southern State called Georgia and The National Wizarding Institute, in the Muggle Capital of Washington, cleverly concealed among the buildings, much as the Ministy of Magic Headquarters are. Besides these three well known schools that take students from anywhere within the country, there are schools that are found in each of the states that take only students from within the state.
Mr. Jones, with whom I sat down and interviewed last week, went to one such school. Having spent most of his childhood in the state of Texas, Ethan went to one of the schools run by the Texas Magical Education System, and he agreed to tell me all about it.
Florence Thompson: So, Ethan, what school did you attend?
Ethan Jones: Well, T.M.E.S schools don't really have names, except that each school is near a major city, so the five schools are differentiated by the name of the city. I went to the one near Dallas, so we called it Dallas whenever we talked about the school in any context, like when they had quebling matches and stuff.
FT: Quebling?
EJ: It's a sport played on broomsticks, a bit like quiddich, but with more unnecessary roughness. The different schools used to play each other.
FT: Really? So you were aware, even when you were young, of other schools?
EJ: Oh Yeah. We played them in quebling, and stuff like that. We also played them in quiddich, or at least we played Forth Worth. Quiddich wasn't as big a deal over there.
FT: I see. And you started school when you were eleven?
EJ: No. We start much earlier over on the other side of The Pond.
FT: What pond?
EJ: It's an American expression. It means across the ocean.
FT: Uh-hu. So how old were you when you started school?
EJ: I started when I was nine. That's the main difference between school over here and schools in America. Over there you start when your nine, you take the S.M. that's the Standardized Magical Competency Test when you're thirteen, That's like the O. over here and then you can stay and get what's commonly called a "Two-year" in a specific subject or two.
FT: And what exactly is a "Two-Year"?
EJ: Oh it's like…it's like getting your N.E. here; you stay in school two more years and get a certificate of Competence if you pass. I got mine in International wizarding relations. I actually ended up going to a different school for my two-year, which isn't uncommon. I actullay went to MassMag, or Massachusetts Magical Institute.
FT: Really? Any particular reason?
EJ: The T.M.E.S schools didn't have the classes I wanted to take, and I wanted to see a bit of the country. I actually had a great time there, except the winters were too cold.
FT: So you were completely finished with school when you were fifteen?
EJ: Well no. Part of the reason schools in the US start so early is so that when you get out, your still subject to the truancy laws, which state that anyone under the age of sixteen has to be in school, so that guarantees that all wizards get at least one year of muggle schooling, on top of muggle schooling when you're young. Most wizards actually graduate high school, which is secondary school here, which means an extra three or four years of school.
FT: So are you saying that you went to muggle school for three years?
EJ: yeah. Well I went to muggle school when I was a child, before I started at Dallas, then I transferred in to High School in my sophomore year, and studied for three years so I could graduate. It's very difficult to get a job in America if you don't have a high school degree. I actually learned a lot there.
FT: One last question. If you had a chance to start over and go to Hogwarts, would you?
EJ: I don't think I would. I very much enjoyed my time at Dallas, and at MassMag. They do research there, and very exciting to meet some of the top magical minds in the world. I think most American magical schools would accept British students for Two-year programs, after you take your OWLs and I would recommend looking into it, for any young Hogwarts students. I felt like a got a wonderful education at Dallas, and I'd go back in a heartbeat.
I certainly wouldn't trade my own time at Hogwarts for any foreign education experience, but from what Mr. Jones says, the wizarding schools in America are no joke. Hogwarts currently has no dealing with any American schools, although there was talk of including Salem Academy in the Triwizarding tournament, although no more so than any of the schools scattered across mainland Europe. Very few O.W.L Student from Hogwarts pursue their N.E. or equivalents thereof at other schools, although from what Mr. Jones says, it does seem to be an intriguing possibility. The Daily Profit will most likely continue to be staffed by Hogwarts Alums, although surely Mr. Jones will pave the way for a small number of foreigners who study at any number of schools around the world.